Daughter Fights Back After ICE Detains Mother Over Unproven Gang Allegations

Salvadoran Woman Detained by ICE Amid Unfounded Gang Allegations, Family and Attorneys Say

To her daughter Karen Cruz Berrios, Elsy Noemi Berrios is a loving and hardworking single mother. But to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), she is being labeled as an “associate of the violent MS-13 gang”—a claim her family and attorneys say is completely unsubstantiated.

Nearly two weeks after her arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), DHS has yet to present any concrete evidence supporting the allegation. According to her legal team, neither they nor the public have received any official explanation or documentation from the government.

The 52-year-old Salvadoran woman was taken into custody on the morning of March 31 while driving to work with her daughter in Westminster, Maryland. Cellphone footage captured by her 18-year-old daughter, Cruz Berrios, shows agents ordering her mother out of the car. She refused, asking to see a warrant.

“You don’t need to see the warrant,” one agent, wearing a vest labeled “Federal Agent,” replied.

Moments later, the agents smashed the driver’s side window, unlocked the door, and forcibly removed Noemi Berrios before placing her in handcuffs.

“You can’t just take her because you feel like it!” Cruz Berrios is heard yelling in the video.

Trying to comfort her daughter, Noemi Berrios responded calmly: “Don’t worry my love, I’m OK.”

“She’s never done anything wrong,” Cruz Berrios told insurance news asia. “She’s a great mother who raised me and my three siblings alone. She worked hard for us and followed every rule.”

Her attorneys said they haven’t been shown a detention order or any proof connecting their client to MS-13. They learned of the allegation only through media coverage. A bond hearing is set for Monday, during which her legal team will request her release and demand that DHS reveal whatever evidence it may have.

“There’s been no evidence shared with us that links her to MS-13, and she denies any such connection,” said attorney Raymond Griffith.

Griffith noted that under past administrations, a person in her situation—an asylum seeker with no criminal history—would not have been considered a priority for enforcement.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore’s office has also weighed in, urging transparency from federal authorities.

“Our Constitution guarantees due process,” said Carter Elliott IV, Moore’s senior press secretary. “People have a right to know the accusations against them and be given their day in court. The federal government needs to explain the reason for this arrest and review the conduct of the officers involved.”

ICE claims Berrios was previously detained in January 2017 after entering the U.S. illegally and was processed for expedited removal before being released under the Alternatives to Detention program, which allows individuals to remain in their communities during immigration proceedings.

However, her lawyers say the removal proceedings were thrown out in 2023. She immediately filed for asylum and was granted work authorization, which was recently renewed. She currently works for a custom clothing manufacturer.

Her daughter said she was blindsided by DHS’s claim that her mother has gang affiliations.

“It’s just not true,” Cruz Berrios said.

Members of Maryland’s Salvadoran community are increasingly concerned, especially in light of another recent high-profile case. In March, Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a father of three, was deported to El Salvador and placed in the notorious CECOT prison. His family denies his involvement with MS-13, and his deportation is currently being contested in federal court. The Trump administration has since called the deportation an “administrative error.”

“Regardless of where he is, he should be incarcerated,” said DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin in a statement to insurance news asia.

Although the circumstances differ, Jorge Benitez Perez, a Salvadoran immigrant and activist in Maryland, said the trend is troubling.

“When Salvadorans first started arriving, the stereotype was always that we were gang members,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking and infuriating to see our people treated this way and sent back to the very danger they fled.”

For now, Elsy Noemi Berrios remains in ICE custody at a processing center in rural Pennsylvania. Her family and attorneys continue to fight for her release, fearing deportation could be imminent.